CAIRO - Twenty-five people died in an explosion at a church adjoining Cairo’s main Coptic cathedral on Sunday, the worst attack on a Christian place of worship in majority Muslim Egypt in decades.
The blast, in which another 49 people were injured, took place during a Mass at the Botrosiya church, according to official statements and local residents.
The church is inside the heavily guarded complex that houses the cathedral, the seat of Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, to which most Egyptian Christians belong.
Police cordoned off the complex as a large crowd - some of its members angry, others somber - gathered outside. The church’s roof was badly damaged and its windows were blown out.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar visited the scene of the attack, independent newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported.
Television images from inside showed blood on the ground and wrecked seating.
The Interior Ministry, whose forces guard the complex along with church security officials, did not specify the cause of the explosion.
Egypt’s Islamic authorities condemned the attack. The country’s top Islamic judicial official said the perpetrators would be the “enemies” of the prophet Mohammed on the Day of Judgement.
The blast came on a public holiday marking the birth of Mohammed and after overnight Christian prayers to mark the start of the month of Kihak in the Coptic calendar.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The last major bomb attack on an Eygptian church, in the northern city of Alexandria on New Year’s Eve 2010, killed 23 people.
